Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates generally to network processors and more particularly to packet classification at a network processor.
Description of the Related Art
A network processor typically receives and processes received packets by, for example, routing each received packet to one of a plurality of output ports based on an address field of the packet. Early network processors processed packets on a “first-received, first-served” basis whereby packets were generally processed in the order received. However, as network traffic has grown more complex, network processors have been configured to implement more refined processing sequences according to the types of packets received. To apply such refined processing sequences, a network processor typically must classify each received packet into one or more types through application of a packet classification algorithm. However, as the type and character of network traffic changes, fixed or simple classification algorithms may be insufficient for efficient processing of received packets.